Ex-sewer chief who falsified records jailed for faking community service

HARTFORD — When his failure to do his job polluted a river with sewage, a wastewater treatment plant superintendent was sentenced in court last spring to perform community service to pay for his crime.

When he faked that, too, he got jail time.

Thomas Melville was sentenced to serve 320 hours of community service for falsifying work records required by state environmental laws. He turned in paperwork showing he served the bulk of that sentence in May, doing odd jobs at the American Legion post in Hartford where he had once served as commander.

Last month, Melville was sentenced in Berrien County Circuit Court to seven days in jail for falsifying those records of his own community service hours.

Cindy Ehrenberg, court referral coordinator for Berrien County, said that the former head of treatment plants in Hartford and Coloma also will have to perform 200 hours of community service work, this time properly channeled through her office.

Melville has until June 1, 2010, to complete that work, the court ordered.

Melville earned a combined income of $100,000 a year as superintendent of the two wastewater-treatment plants, which he ran from 2002 to 2007. During that period, local health departments reported no illnesses that were attributed to the discharge in the river, officials have said.

He is no longer a wastewater-treatment operator. State investigators charged that he falsified reports of laboratory work that was never done and polluted the Paw Paw River with improperly treated human sewage — perhaps every day for years.

Melville pleaded guilty in circuit courts in Van Buren and Berrien counties to two felony environmental violation charges in connection with his actions at both plants. In total, he was ordered to pay fines and costs of about $6,000 and to complete community service.

“He had an officer (at the American Legion ) sign off on the hours,” said Detective Sgt. Bill Ford, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality investigator who helped uncover the problems at the wastewater plants.

The man signed blank cards that were later filled in by Melville, Ford said.

Ehrenberg said Melville was familiar with the paperwork because he had often supervised community service workers at the post when he was commander there.

Melville declined to comment when contacted by the Gazette.

Ford said he is satisfied with the outcome of the contempt charges.

“He spent seven days in the Berrien County jail. I think it sends a clear message to people sentenced to community service, if they don’t do the service assigned to then they’ll do jail time,” Ford said.